For What You Are
by babypanikku
Summary: NejiSaku, oneshot Know what Neji thinks about while he waits for a certain pink-haired kunoichi. What? The Hyuuga genius is fond of reminiscing? What the heck?


Thanks to those who read Candy Punishment! I love you all! Here's a long one-shot for all Nejisaku fans out there! If you think this is not good enough, I apologize again… Here goes nothing! 

If Neji or Sakura seems OOC, again, I apologize…I tried to make them in character because, I, myself hates OOC for real! So here it goes…

**For What You Are**

**Neji's thoughts…**

Everything in this place looks peaceful. Just like her face, which was just like the serene scenery of the spring. She was the girl whom I met 10 years ago but I never paid attention to her. She was just that girl I never considered as one who has the same caliber as mine. She was the weakling who followed the Sharingan-user everywhere. That was what I thought she was. Until I figured out something about her, those deep feelings and outlooks she has about life.

I always believed in fate when I was younger. Yes, I did. It all changed when I fought with Naruto at the Chuunin exams. Then, I changed further after speaking with her, my pink-haired kunoichi.

It was the day we were locked inside the briefing room 5 years ago. Someone pulled a prank on us and locked us up in the room while we were at the midst of fighting, not really fighting, but mocking each other.

We realized that we were locked inside when I got the kunoichi offended unintentionally. She was just so damn annoying that time that I told her that her mouth was as large as her very wide forehead. She was so deafening that day; she kept babbling in my ears that she made that sensitive nerve in my head snap hardly. I just couldn't help it; she was so irritating for goodness sake.

She's a very reasonable and rational person but I guess people have their own limitations. Her unusually wide forehead must be a sensitive issue to her, a taboo. It must be her hidden weak spot.

She angrily walked towards the door when I said that. She reached for the doorknob and tried to open the door but she was surprised when she can't even make a halfway turn to the doorknob. I walked towards her and tried to open the door myself but it was no use. We thought the door was just jammed so we quickly advanced towards the window. We couldn't open the window either. I gathered up a minimum amount of chakra enough to force a stuck window open and when I touched the window, I received an electric shock.

That's when we both realized that a jutsu was used to seal the room and can only be opened by the one who used that jutsu. It was the most bothersome day of my life, or maybe the best day since that was the day I discovered a different 'her'.

_At first I cursed whoever was playing with us but after that day, I just thanked that person for helping me know that pink-haired girl more._

We sat at the opposite corners of the room and remained silent for a while. I supposed, she was not used to total silence that she easily forgot she was angry and started a conversation with me like nothing actually happened.

"Ne, Hyuuga-san, what comes into your mind when you think of the word 'love'?" she asked out of the blue. _'What the hell is this girl thinking?' I thought as I looked at her innocent façade._

"What?" I said in reply, not really hoping to talk to that boisterous girl again.

"I said, what comes into your mind when you think of the word 'love'?" she repeated in the same patient tone as the first one.

I pondered for a while about the unusual question. I am really not in to those 'love' talks but the girl started it. I couldn't think of anything to answer since love was not in my vocabulary. I shrugged and disappointment crossed her face.

"Love is deeper than what it seems. Love is more complex than how it is spelled. It may be a four-lettered word…but it is not easy to explain as it seems." She stated firmly. I wondered how she was able to say that since she was the one who followed the Uchiha boy when she was younger. It seemed like she read my mind so she quickly added.

"I know I contradict my words since I followed Sasuke around. I just realized how mistaken I am. I said I loved him …yet I came to ask myself, 'How can I say that I love him?' " She said then she kept silent for a while like something crossed her mind. "That was when I started to wake up from the truth and reflected about it. Was it really love?" she said with a tinge of sadness in her tone.

I allowed her to continue. I waited patiently and a part of me was also curious of what she was to say next. I know something was wrong with me that moment, I just knew it. _'Am I sick or what? What am I thinking?' I asked myself._

"I asked myself over and over again if I really love him. And then, it hit me so hard. Did I waste all of my time waiting for him? Was it just a waste of time that I followed him faithfully? And then, that moment, I realized I wasn't really in love with him." She continued as she looked outside the window. I followed her gaze and realized she was looking at the dimming sky of dusk.

"I just realized how foolish I was when I first met him and said to myself that I love him." She added and a sad smile emerged from her face.

We remained silent for a long moment. Neither one of us spoke and allowed the silence to take over us as the sun fully set.

"Honestly, I am not fond of talking about love." She stated in her brave voice.

"Why not?" she asked, as she looked at me with those, freaking-naïve, eyes.

"You can't say that you love that person just by his looks. It's not called love at all, ne?" that pink-haired girl said straightly at me. I can't help but stare at her brave jade eyes. It just drew my gaze towards hers even how hard I tried to look away.

Those eyes full of power just makes me wonder what power she holds within, that someone like me can stare at her as long as anyone could imagine.

She smiled sweetly this time and uttered, "Now that I have said my reason, let's talk about yours."

I blinked once then twice before I was able to make a sound that could bring me out of my deep thoughts about her.

Before I could even speak, someone opened the door. Copy-nin, Hatake Kakashi?

"What are you two doing in here alone?" he asked lazily yet mischievously. We looked at him and I sensed a very powerful, blazing chakra coming from the previously calm, pink-haired kunoichi.

"You're the culprit!" the pink-haired girl yelled at her former teacher.

"Huh? What do you mean, Sakura-chan?" the silver-haired ninja asked innocently as the girl approached him with accusing finger pointing at him.

"You did this to us! How could you Kakashi-sensei!" the pink-haired girl said wildly but it seemed that she was just playing around with the older ninja. _It was she, the person who would never get angry at those kinds of troublesome things._ _How did I suddenly sound like Shikamaru?_

She was just the playful girl who doesn't really get mad that fast. If she gets mad, it would quickly vanish like nothing really happened. She was that kind of person, the one who doesn't keep hard feelings for a long time. She was just like a little girl.

From that time, I learned more about her. She was not only a weakling who doesn't know anything but follow that Uchiha boy, the loud girl, and the girl with wide forehead. She was someone more than just what I thought she was. She was more special.

One day, I asked the jounin with disheveled silver hair why he did such a thing. He answered me with a mysterious smile hidden behind his mask.

'_Figure it out yourself, young man.'_ He said then he was gone in a poof.

I was left dumbfounded. I just thought that maybe he did that just to make us comfortable with each other to make a good team for the upcoming mission. Maybe?

I met her everywhere and learned more and more about that girl with lively green eyes and eye-catching pink hair. She was just too good to be true. She was something more than what is on the surface. A deeper person than what she portrays to everyone. That was the pink blossom, the cherry blossom of the spring.

* * *

The Hyuuga genius looked up at the blue sky as he waited for a certain pink-haired person. He was sitting under the blooming Sakura Tree at the middle of the clearing. He was leaning against the tree, contemplating about what brought him to that place.

It was not like him to wait, especially for a person. It was not like him at all. But he knew to himself that he changed, he changed because of that pink-haired girl.

* * *

It was that lonely day, when the sky was covered with thick dark clouds, and the atmosphere was almost dull. Neji was waiting at the same clearing, sitting under and leaning against the Sakura tree.

After some quiet moments, a pink-haired girl arrived with that cheery smile on her lovely face. "Konnichiwa, Hyuuga-san." She greeted with the same air of formality, yet with comfortable feelings on her tone.

She had become at ease when she was around the proud Hyuuga. He was arrogant at times but still, there was a form of invisible kindness in him.

The Hyuuga prodigy nodded and the pink-haired kunoichi smiled sweetly at him. He was feeling a bit anxious about being with the girl that moment. He didn't know why but there was a weird sensation inside him, which only happens when that girl was around him.

"Can I sit beside you?" Sakura asked and Neji nodded slightly.

"What did you want to talk about, Hyuuga-san?" Sakura asked innocently as she sat down beside Neji.

Yes, he wanted to talk to her, but he was hesitating if he would tell it to her or not. It was something he never thought was possible.

"What is it, Hyuuga-san?" the girl asked him without a hint of the nervous look on the Hyuuga's face.

The Hyuuga didn't speak and looked away to avoid the sight of the 'cotton candy'-haired girl. Sakura waited good-naturedly so that the silver-eyed ninja could collect his thoughts.

"Haruno," the Hyuuga genius started in his usual serious demeanor and the pair of curious green eyes gazed at him.

The girl listened attentively for his next words. But the words couldn't come out of him; he was too stubborn to say those un-Hyuuga things. He was trying to keep the façade he was famously known more. But who he was he fooling, anyway?

It just happened as fast as he could possibly imagined to be. The Haruno girl was the cause of all the things he was currently experiencing.

"I want to be with you." The Hyuuga prodigy said straightforwardly. There! He blurted out without realizing it. _'What the heck! Now, I know, I am such an IDIOT, playing genius…' he said._

The pink-haired girl nodded unknowingly and then she just realized what the Hyuuga told her. Yes, she heard it clearly and her mind processed it quite slower than what it is expected from a top medic-nin like herself. She couldn't believe what she just heard so she wanted to hear it again just to make sure her sense of hearing was still in good condition.

"Huh?" the pink-girl said stupidly.

"I don't want to repeat what I already said." The Hyuuga said defensively, pushing all embarrassment away.

"Just repeat what you said, please. I think I didn't understand what you just told me." Sakura said disbelievingly.

The Hyuuga was perspiring rather excessively. Now that was not the Hyuuga Neji everyone knew him to be.

"Come on, Haruno. You are not an idiot or a deaf. You heard me clearly so I won't repeat what has been said." He said now arrogantly.

"Why are you being such an ass? All you have to do is repeat it for me. Is that too bothersome to you? Or are you just embarrassed to say those things because it will ruin your 'OH SO COOL HYUUGA' image? Give me a break!" Sakura said angrily then she looked away.

Neji gave an exhausted sigh. True, he was embarrassed to say that thing again. It was too awkward for him since it was the first time he ever said that.

"Forget it." Neji stated impatiently and stood up. Sakura also stood up and the proud Hyuuga turned away from her.

Sakura let out an irritated groan and slapped the Hyuuga's shoulder. "Come on, Hyuuga-san…is it really that hard for you to say those things?"

That was it! Why was she pushing him further to his limits, anyway?

"I thought you are a genius and a strong shinobi? Why can't you do such easy thing, huh?" she said mockingly and it snapped a sensitive nerve of the Hyuuga prodigy.

Neji slammed her against the tree violently. He had his hands on the tree on both sides of Sakura's face.

"Don't bug me. You are starting to get on my nerves." He said dangerously with the frightening glare he was known for.

Sakura sighed and thought that she didn't hear him right. _'That's it, I'm imagining things too much.' _She thought.

"Fine, fine." Sakura said then she looked away.

Neji stared at her face and said too himself, _'Is she stupid or what? I thought she was not shallow as others think she is?' he said then he clenched his teeth. _

"So, what exactly do you want to talk about then?" Sakura asked in her bossy tone.

"Are you really that simple-minded?" Neji said sarcastically.

"What?"

"Baka."

"What the hell are you talking a—" she was cut off when Neji pressed his lips hard against hers.

Sakura was squirming against his grasp but it was totally useless. Neji was just too strong compared to her. After long yet addicting kiss, they broke apart.

"What the hell is that for, dammit!" the pink-haired girl fumed.

"Don't you get it yet?" the Hyuuga asked in his irritated tone.

"How am I supposed to know, you Kiss-thief!" Sakura spat straight on the proud Hyuuga's face.

"I—" the Hyuuga was about to say 'it' when Sakura realized something she didn't ever think of.

"No…don't say it," the girl said in her desperate tone.

"I do…" Neji said the words Sakura couldn't believe.

"No…" Sakura said then she looked down feeling a bit scared for an unknown reason.

"Look at me."

"No…"

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not the one you need…"

"Tell me why not?" Neji said and he felt the girl trembling.

"_Because I'm not perfect."_ The girl said in her weak voice.

"_I'll make up for your imperfections."_ Neji said plainly but comfortingly.

"I'm not beautiful…" 

"_Who says you're not?"_

"_I can't promise you anything."_ Sakura added.

"_You don't have to make promises."_

"I don't meet the expectations of your family…" 

"_It's me whom you should think about not them." _Neji answered her firmly.

"Would you love me even if I'm not good enough?" 

"_You are more than enough to me."_

"Would you love me even if I can't give you everything?" Sakura asked as she looked up at Neji, who was staring at her in return. "I'll accept anything you can offer me." Neji whispered gently to Sakura. 

They stared at each other's eyes studying each other for almost forever. Slowly, ever so slowly, Neji's face inched closer and the pink-haired kunoichi waited for the long-awaited kiss she reserved for the person she would love. Their lips touched and everything seemed unreal. They kissed the most gentle and innocent kiss ever. It was a sweet kiss they never expected to happen. An unexpressed love they were able to show in that affectionate gesture, which said all the hidden feelings they felt for each other. The warm yet expressive non-verbal action spoke their concealed secrets about their own emotions.

They parted and took in deep breaths of the spring air. They looked into each other's eyes and a tender smile appeared on their faces.

"Why do you love me?" Sakura asked in her small innocent voice.

Neji shrugged and said with an arrogant sneer, "Who said that I love you?"

Sakura scowled playfully at him and said, "You don't? Then get off me…"

Neji smirked an egotistical smirk and said, "Are you threatening me or something?"

"Do I sound threatening to you?" she said then she smirked with the same level as his.

They remained silent for a while until Neji broke the silence with an unexpected response.

"I don't need to have a reason to love you. I just do." He said avoiding eye contact with the pink-haired girl. Sakura, however, smiled at the simple reply the Hyuuga prodigy came up. _It was not like him at all_, she thought, _but inside everyone's heart, there is a tiny, existing sweetness, which one has to show from time to time._

* * *

Neji closed his eyes and felt the gentle breeze touch his pale skin. He relived every happy memory, which happened to him after he met his little cherry blossom kunoichi. He was ready to die any moment since he was totally content of everything that happened in his life. There may be sad things but he knew that all the times he had with Sakura was enough to defy it all.

He fell asleep and didn't recognize his pink-haired lover coming. Sakura smiled softly and knelt in front the sleeping Hyuuga Neji. She watched the sleeping form and cupped his cheeks gently. _'Neji, You know…I don't need to have so many reasons to fall in love with you, Neji I also just do. I love you.' _Sakura said to herself and retrieved her hands from his face and continued watching his peaceful face as he slept there, under the Sakura tree.

**End.**

That's all, folks! Thank you for reading and another thing…please review!


End file.
